in north africa, but president obama made clear no american violence makes america retreat from the region. we'll bring justice to harm us and our friends, but we will not be detoured from siding with history. we will support our allies, we'll partner with the new democracies to achieve the aspirations of our people. we will be partners. you know, in the last few weeks, i have been reminded of my first trip to north africa. this was early in 2010. i had only been in this job for a few months, and it was before the advent of the arab spring, and i was there to talk to a number of our north african business leaders and educators about pnb, that i mentioned earlier, there to test an idea about creating, and i was not sure how they would react in bringing, bankers, entrepreneurs, investors, and others to the region. i met with a large group of educators, investors, and business people, no government officials, and, again, this is early in 2010, and i presented the project to them, and then i sat back and i asked them what they thought. i'd only be on the job with them for a few months.